Alixa Garcia is creating and posting “An image a day for 365 days in support of the liberation of Assata Shakur.” It’s called “Arise For Assata” and it’s consistent, creative, and powerful. I think this is the direction that art and struggle need to go. I can’t say enough good things about this project. See this and more at ariseforassataproject.tumblr.com

Help a Captive Indigenous Warrior Survive! Fight Medical Neglect in u.s. Prisons!

Byron Chubbuck a.k.a. Oso Blanco with Leonard Peltier and Tom Manning

719-784-9454

People to ask for and speak with if they are available . . .

Mr. Charles Daniels, Warden

Ms. McDermott, Hospital Administrator

Mr. Leggit, Counselor

Miss Hopkins

“The Lieutenant”

NOTE: Any of these people may put you on hold indefinitely, hang up on you, talk over you, etc. If nothing else, let someone, even if it’s just the operator, know the reason you are calling.

Sample call talking points . . .

Hello, may I speak to _________? This call is in reference to inmate Byron Chubbuck #07909-051. Byron has a painful, potentially cancerous mass in his liver. He needs an ultrasound to determine the problem, and has been asking for this since he came to Florence in January.

He placed a sick call in April.

He has high ammonia build up in his liver and experiences daily vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, drowsiness, and irregular breathing.

Byron already has a medical record in the BOP concerning liver problems and has never asked for family/friends to help with a medical condition before.

I know that HIPAA prevents you from sharing his personal health information (PHI) wtih me– I just want to make sure this is brought to your attention and that you take all actions necessary to ensure Mr. Chubbuck proper medical treatment.

I know you have a protocol to follow. Why wasn’t he given a liver biopsy when he placed a sick call in April? How do you evaluate an internal medical condition?

Thank you for doing the right thing and getting my friend the medical attention he needs.

Coordinating the effort

Post a brief report of how your call went to social media with this announcement or a link to it! Lead by example! #OsoSolidarity

Email denverabc@riseup.net and let us know how calls are going!

If you can, send a quick get card to Oso, letting him know that you called and that he is in your thoughts and/or prayers. This will lift Oso’s spirits and again remind him, as well as his captors, that he is not alone in his struggles.

Also, don’t forget about these other crucial ongoing campaigns against medical neglect of political prisoners . . .

“Forty years ago to the day, Assata Shakur (birth name JoAnne Deborah Chesimard) was involved in a shootout at the New Jersey Turnpike, which left a state trooper dead. Shakur, then a Black Liberation Army and Black Panther Party member, was convicted of his murder in 1973. In 1979, with the help of allies in the black radical movement, Shakur escaped from prison, eventually emerging in Cuba, where she has lived since 1984.Asof Thursday – the reward on her capture and return doubled to $2 million — the 66-year-old fugitive was named the first woman on the FBI’s most wanted list.” (Read the rest at Salon.com)

If we look at what’s been said we seem to be making promising progress with several campaigns but it is change that is needed and vigilance is key.

On the eve of the #30Days2FreeMaroon campaign for Russell Maroon Shoatz, Maroon was transferred to SCI Mahanoy, presumably to facilitate a transfer out of the horrible thirty years of solitary confinement and into general population. Prisons often isolate prisoners upon arrival so it’s possible that they are getting around to it. However, the other thing that prisons often do when people protest on a prisoner’s behalf is transfer them, forget the demands, and make it some other warden’s problem. Hold the captors to their word! Have you been calling? Have you written your letter yet?

Obama seemed to have conveniently forgotten all about his campaign promises to close the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention center but the ongoing hunger strike jogged his memory and he has renewed his talk. That said he is waffling in political quagmires but time is ticking as many of his indefinite prisoners are still refusing food. Sign the petition!

Former Black Panther Russell Maroon Shoatz (AF-3855) has been held in torturous conditions of solitary confinement in Pennsylvania prisons for the past thirty years. He has not had a serious rule violation for more than two decades. Maroon’s role as an educator, human rights defender, writer, and critical intellectual of liberation movements is widely renowned.

Russell Maroon Shoatz. SOURCE: youtube

April 8—May 9: Flood the office of PA Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary John Wetzel with phone calls, letters, and faxes.

I am writing out of concern for Mr. Russell Shoatz, inmate #AF-3855 recently transferred to SCI Mahanoy. I’ve been reading about the controversial nature of solitary confinement in the news and it came to my attention that this older man has been in solitary confinement here in the United States for thirty years!

My reaction is that surely this is a violation of Mr. Shoatz’ human rights that must be remedied immediately. I would certainly hope that this has not persisted because of his political affiliations, as that would make this even worse. I do understand that he has an escape in his past— but surely that can’t justify sensory deprivation into his old age.

I will be hoping every day for news that Russell Shoatz has been transferred into general population. Thank you for the action you will take. Please be in touch as time permits.

UPDATE: RELEASED BACK TO HALFWAY HOUSE– SEE UPDATE TO NYC ABC LINK BELOW.

Daniel McGowan used to be a political prisoner who did most of his bid in communications management units because of his political speech. He was in halfway house, halfway in prison, halfway in outside life and putting his halfway outside life together and enjoying halfway freedom. Just after publishing an article on Huffington Post (Court Documents Prove I Was Sent to Communications Management Units (CMU) for my Political Speech), when we thought we were almost done with this ordeal, Daniel was yanked back into federal prison today, April 4, 2013— which only proves his fucking point.

BREAKING: Daniel McGowan Back in Prison (NYC ABC)

Under the united states, whether you are all the way in prison, halfway in prison, supervised by prisoncrats, or even like me and privileged enough to be in minimum custody out here in the world, you are under a system that warehouses people for social control and for political repression and it seeks to maintain its power. Until this system is overturned, it will always devise special units and inane rules to fuck with the lives of those who dare to speak out. Do not let them struggle alone.

“Daniel McGowan Back in Jail Days After Writing About His Secretive Prison Unit for Huffington Post” by Will Potter on April 4, 2013 (Green is the New Red)

Write Daniel. Support political prisoners.

“It’s hard enough to transition from life in prison to a “normal” life back home in New York. It’s especially traumatic to then be ripped from that, and put back behind bars. Please consider writing him a letter:” (Will Potter)

Kersplebedeb
“ . . . Its also a pretty sprawling site, with pages on key political fronts ranging from Palestine to Transgender Liberation, from Iraq to political prisoners’ struggles in the United States . . . “

Moorbey'z Blog
“From a Nu-Afrikan perspective, RBG 4Lif.. Red For The Blood That We Have Shed In The Freedom Struggle Black Is For Our People & The Origin Of All Things In The Universe Green Is For Mother Afrika & The Rebirth Of Life And For Our Children”

Resistance Behind Bars
“The Struggles of Incarcerated Women” — blog related to the ground-breaking book by Victoria Law

Donate

Donate to the Warchest Program
from ABCF, “designed to send monthly checks to those Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War who have been receiving insufficient, little, or no financial support during their imprisonment. “

Individual PP Support

Cece McDonald
RELEASED FROM PRISON !!!! – 1/13/14- Woman imprisoned in a male prison for alleged self defense against a racist, transphobic, and sexist attack.

Herman Bell
Former Black Panther, NY-state political prisoner, community organizer

Jerry Resists
RELEASED FROM FEDERAL JAIL!!! 1/28/13 – Gerald “Jerry” Koch, a New York City anarchist and legal activist imprisoned in new york city for refusing to cooperate with a nefarious grand jury targeting anarchists.

News

Denver Anarchist Black Cross Blog
“The Denver Anarchist Black Cross exists to contribute to the defense of social movements, both internally and externally, working against oppression and for self determination.”

South Brooklyn ABCF
” We are the South Brooklyn chapter of the Anarchist Black Cross Federation. We stand in solidarity with political prisoners and prisoners of war worldwide.”

Publications

4strugglemag
“Views, Thoughts, and Analysis from the Hearts and Minds of North American Political Prisoners and Friends”

Resources

Aftershock
[book] Confronting Trauma in a Violent World: A Guide for Activists and Their Allies by pattrice jones * Lantern Books

Certain Days
Click above to order the 2014 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar now!

Combat Liberalism
Despite my strong opposition to mao, maoism, and authoritarian communism, I have come to find this text very useful as a guide to combating bad tendencies in leftist organization, formal and informal. Find/replace the word “communist” with “anarchist.”

Support New York
“Support New York is a collective dedicated to healing the effects of sexual assault and abuse. Our aim is to meet the needs of the survivor, to hold accountable those who have perpetrated harm, and to maintain a larger dialogue within the community abo